PanaKids at Jones

As if you needed an excuse to head to Pasadena’s coolest coffee joint, Jones Coffee Roasters, now you have an altruistic reason. On Sunday, May 22, it’s hosting a fundraiser for the PanaKids Biliteracy Program, the brainchild and Chuck and Mireya Jones’ daughter, Alison Jones Kelly.

Kelly is a bilingual/multicultural teacher who began her career in the migrant fields of Watsonville, California and later developed a biliteracy program called ‘two-way immersion” that serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade. She took a sabbatical last year and moved with her husband and two adopted Guatemalan children to build a similar program in Panajachel, Guatemala—the PanaKids Biliteracy Program. In this diverse community, children speak the Maya dialect of Kaqchikel, along with intermittent Spanish. The program’s goal is to have these children become academically bilingual in Spanish and English without losing their native dialect by the end of 6th grade. PanaKids provides language and literacy development for parents and grandparents as well. You can learn more on its blog.

The Jones event will have a silent auction, live marimba music, door prizes, traditional Guatemalan food, Guatemalan textiles for sale, and a book drive (receive a raffle ticket for each book donated in Spanish or English, for ages 2-7). To check out the items and bid online through 8 p.m. on May 22, click here.